Weston Big Wood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Weston Big Wood (grid reference ST455750) is a 37.48 hectare woodland west of the town of Portishead, Avon, England

It is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, notified in 1971.

It is managed as a nature reserve by Avon Wildlife Trust.

The main access point is from a minor road which leads north from the Portishead to Weston-in-Gordano road; just past the civic amenity site is a parking area, and a footpath leads into the wood from there. A circular walk has been marked out inside the wood.

The woodland sits on a ridge of Carboniferous limestone. Slopes within the woodland are covered with Small-leaved lime trees; oak and hazel are more common on flatter hilltop areas.

The rare plant Purple Gromwell is found at the site, as are rare species of whitebeam tree.

There is a wide open area inside the wood, created as a butterfly feature as part of the reserve management work, called "The Ride".

The wood itself dates from Iron Age times; some of its internal features e.g. the boundary banks, date from the Middle Ages.

Adjacent to the wood on its southern side is a large quarry.

[edit] Source

• English Nature citation sheet for the site (accessed 16 July 2006)

[edit] External Links

• A page about the wood at the Forest of Avon website
• A page about the wood at Avon Wildlife Trust's website

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon

Ashton Court • Avon Gorge • Banwell Caves • Biddle Street, Yatton • Bishop's Hill Wood • Blagdon Lake • Bodkin Hazel Wood • Brockley Hall Stables • Brown's Folly • Burledge Sidelands and Meadows • Burrington Combe • Chew Valley Lake • Cleaves Wood • Cleeve Wood, Hanham • Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines • Compton Martin Ochre Mine • Congrove Field and The Tumps • Dolebury Warren • Ellenborough Park West • Folly Farm • Goblin Combe • Gordano Valley • Harptree Combe • Hawkesbury Meadow • Hinton Charterhouse Field • Horseshoe Bend, Shirehampton • Iford Manor • King's Wood and Urchin Wood • Long Dole Wood and Meadows • Lower Woods • Max Bog • Middle Hope • Midger • Monkswood Valley • Plaster's Green Meadows • Purn Hill • Puxton Moor • Severn Estuary • Shiplate Slait • St. Catherine's Valley • Steep Holm • Tickenham, Nailsea and Kenn Moors • Uphill Cliff • Upton Coombe • Walton Common • Weston Big Wood  • Yanal Bog Neighbouring areas: Gloucestershire • Somerset • Wiltshire